Importing Transactions

Why enter all your transactions by hand if you can import them from your financial institution? Even if your bank doesn't support direct connect banking, odds are good that it still will allow you to download in one of the formats MoneyWell can read.

Import takes very few steps:

1. Open your financial institution's website in your browser and follow the instructions for downloading transactions.
2. Select the account you want to import to in MoneyWell.
3. Drag and drop the downloaded file to the MoneyWell icon in the Dock or use File > Import to select the file.
4. Adjust any settings that are displayed and click Continue to finish the import.

If your bank gives you a choice of download formats, you should use OFX/QFX if you can. The next best is QIF and then delimited is the final option. Sometimes it's hard to tell the format by the way a financial institutions list them. Here are other potential names:

• Quicken Web Connect QFX - This is another form of OFX, which typically has a QFX extension.
• Microsoft Money - Even though this software isn't sold anymore, the OFX format may be given this title.
• Quicken QIF - This is the QIF format and works well if OFX isn't available.
• Comma Separated Values (CSV) - This is a delimited format and will work as a last resort.

MoneyWell tracks the most recent imported transactions for each account and tags them so you can select the "Last Import" smart filter and review them. Hold down the Command key (⌘) and click on an account as well as this smart bucket to filter it to just that account.

Exporting From Other Apps

Most apps support one or more of the above formats. The Quicken QIF format is the best for moving between apps because, even though it's an older format, it supports both accounts and categories (buckets). OFX/QFX is the next best because of its structure and then CSV is a last resort.

Quicken Essentials Export:

1. Click the File menu, pick Export and then Export to Quicken 2007…
2. In "Export Options" choose the date range of the transactions you want to go to MoneyWell
3. Click Next
4. Type a name and select an export location (the Desktop is convenient)
5. Click Save and wait for the export to complete
6. Select the export file in the Finder and change the extension from "qmtf" to "qif"

Now you have a QIF file that MoneyWell can quickly import.

Other App Export:

1. Look for Export or QIF Export in the File menu
2. If given options for export, choose "All Accounts" and "Include Categories"
3. Pick the date range you want export
4. In the "Save" panel, type a name and select an export location (the Desktop is convenient)
5. Click Save and wait for the export to complete

MoneyWell can handle several years of transactions, but you may want to export two different sets of your history: One that includes all your data as a historical reference and a second that only includes the last two years of data as a working copy.

Working with just two years or less of transaction activity can speed up your operations.

OFX Import

There is nothing you need to do for an OFX import. That file format is very complete and MoneyWell reads it without any help from you.

QIF Import

QIF files aren't quite as sophisticated as OFX and may require you to specify date and number formatting. You can just pick the date format from the popup menu or you can type your own format string. Use 'M' or 'MM' for the month, 'd' or 'dd' for the day, and 'yy' or 'yyyy' for the year. Match the delimiter shown in the sample date except for the special case when a date looks like 05/22'12, then use MM/dd/yy and MoneyWell will handle it.

For the number format, the critical issue is the decimal setting. Make sure that it's correct more than the thousands separator.